Hoosierpoet• Show poetry

That's me on the right, also known as "Grandpa Moses," reciting my poetry before a live audience in Chattanooga, Tenn. - about the year 1999. I live in northern Indiana. My 24 year-old son and my married daughter, my son-in-law, and 3 granddaughters also reside here in this same small town. I was born and raised here, and continue to live here. When I was around 8 years old, I had a vivid dream that I was standing on a platform before a huge crowd, and all, including myself, were amazed at the beautiful poetry that literally poured out of my mouth. When I awoke, I couldn't remember any of the lines, and I didn't discover until I was 40 years old that I really did have a gift for writing poetry. I like to write in various styles, meters, forms, free verse and rhyming, but I do tend to write mostly in the traditional styles of my favorites: Poe, Guest, Riley, Holmes, Longfellow, and Dickinson. I had a rural upbringing, and much of my poetry reflects this. I was raised Amish, and farmed with horses in my youth, so if you see me writing about "horse farming" you will know it is not because I date back to the 19th century. My favorite subjects are nature and children, but I also enjoy writing on humor, nostalgia, history, social issues, love, religious and Biblical issues. I have recited my poetry before live audiences at banquets and nursing homes, as well as live on PBS Television, and have been published in numerous books, magazines, and newspapers. I have self-published six chapbooks of my own works (currently out of print). My goals are to have a hardcover book of poems published, to write a novel, and perhaps to write a syndicated small-town newspaper column. I have recently graduated from the School of Children's Literature, West Redding, Conn., and hope to have a few illustrated children's books published, with several of my children's poems. Though I can write complex and deep poetry, I am a great believer in simplicity, and most of my poems are written for the common people, and not for the critics and the Wall Street Publishers. I have been called, and fancy myself, the "Norman Rockwell" of American poets. I would show many more trophies on my page, but have deleted most of my award winners.

News Flash!

I am currently working on getting a book published entitled "Recollections of An Amish Childhood" with 39 poems and 10 essays on Amish life. I will self-publish this if I can't find a publishing House willing to take it on.

SPECIAL NOTICE: Thank-you, whoever you are, for paying my lifetime preferred membership to this site! I will forever be in your debt! I will be on here via my local library as often as time will allow. I love you all!!!  


I like to write about the subject of poetry
as in my following poem

The Poet's Quill

The poet's quill
Rich observations trace
Upon the bonded leaf.

Soft sonnets weave
Through life to leap with joy
Or weep in common grief,

To touch the heart
And pluck the stringless harps
Of feelings long denied.

Fine ballads dance
Upon the writer's page
To song of virgin bride:

To battles won,
To heroes never known,
To dreams and dreams that die,

But all is lost
To all posterity
Before the critic's eye.



once in awhile, I manage to work in a
free verse like this

The Royal Rose

The rose is the flower of all flowers
And we would do well to emulate her.

To the child she inspires awe and wonder,
To the youth she wakens love,
To the married she renews ardor,
To the poor she offers wealth,
To the sick she offers well-being,
To the broken-hearted she offers comfort,
To the despondent she offers joy,
To the angry she offers sweetness,
To the enemy she offers peace,
To the bereaved she offers condolences,
And for the dead she fondly remembers.

She is truly royal in her demeanor
And regal in her disposition,
And yet she is as much at home with the pauper
As she is with the king;
For with all her overflowing goodness,
She is condescending to no one.


I'm also fond of writing children's poems -
both for and about children

Captains In the Army

The Earl of Kentucky
And the Duke of Tennessee,
Are captains in the army
Under Robert E. Lee.

They lead a great battalion
Of Virginia musketeers,
And they're out to capture Sherman
With their Georgia volunteers.

They will march from Carolina
Up along the coastal plain,
And they plan to chase Ulysses
Simpson Grant to Bangor, Maine.

They are decked with gold and silver
From their medals by the score;
Awarded for their bravery
In this cataclysmic war.

The Earl of Kentucky
Is a boy of only three,
And his five-year-old brother
Is the Duke of Tennessee.

I am rather fond of writing limericks
and other humorous poems

There once was a hoot owl that hooted,
But the best hoot he hooted was muted;
So he thought he would howl,
That old hooty owl,
But try as he might, he just tooted.

My proposed epitaph:

Here lies a great master of rhyme,
Of meter, of words, and of mirth;
He might have been famous in time,
Had he not taken leave of this earth.

No need to shed crocodile tears,
For his work shall be vaunted - at last;
'Cause his words will live on through the years,
And arise like a ghost from the past.

Below is a tribute written
in my honor - thanks Claide!

The Wielder of a Fading Lore
By Claide

A wielder of a wise and witty script
Who paints us pictures of a fading lore
He shares a gift that I have only sipped
From poets that had come in times before

And should he pass for Dickinson's lost son
Or share the blood of Mr. Longfellow
I don't imagine I would be that stunned
His wording shares their charm, their craft, their flow

But yes, so glad am I that he lives now!
And not within those days of Emily
It's hard to put my finger on just how
His tongue of wiser age has baffled me

Oh just to hear him speak what he's composed
And linger in his poetry and prose

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If you are not familiar with my poetry, I recommend
the following poems from my Samples collection list -
click on the orange highlites if you wish to read them:

A Good Many Creatures (child's) allpoetry.com/poem/440529
Silent Awe (free verse) allpoetry.com/poem/434764
The Homeless Man (social) allpoetry.com/poem/490164
O For a Moment (nature/emotion) allpoetry.com/poem/477450
The Princess' Wedding Dress (Nature) allpoetry.com/poem/434745
Slaughter of the Midianites (Bible) allpoetry.com/poem/480255
The Sailboat Cindy Lou (child's) allpoetry.com/poem/438386
Boondoggle Bash (political) allpoetry.com/poem/441505
The Cool Dude (social) http://allpoetry.com/poem/3467234

Sponsoring a Contest? Be sure to read:
How to Rate and Judge Poetry

http://allpoetry.com/column/show/446864

Hoosier Writer & Poet
Moses L. Hochstetler
pronounced the same as Hostetler

What some of my readers say about my work:

"Ya know, Moses, I realize I have been reading your poetry for a number of years and thought I should tell you that your talent is remarkable. Personally, I think you are one of the few poets I would consider a master of the art for the 20th and 21st centuries. Your timing, rhythm, imagery and rhyme as well as free form always are flawless, your poems always telling a story; usually with a wonderful moral for an ending. I know you have a few poetry books available, which would make wonderful fireside reading or on the coffee table for guests to read. Oh! And then there are your children's poetry: what I've read would delight every child. So, keep doing what you do best: write!"

Bonita M Quesinberry, R.C.
Editor, Author
Shelton, Washington, USA

"Powerful, with excellent rhythm" Pepper Basham, Tennessee

"I am impressed and inspired by your writing" Pepper Basham, Tenn.

"You are a master...You have a rare talent, much told with few words"
Kay Lee Kelly

"Incredibly vivid and captivating imagery" Lyle Berry, Florida

"What a wonderful way you have with words, Moses" Janet Owensby, North Carolina

"Reading your poems is like taking an exotic journey" Greg Christiano, N.J.

"All I can do is applaud you and hope that some day I might gain even a drop of your talent" Victoria M.

"You are a fine poet in the truest sense"..." Robert M.

"Such a rich picture you paint in a few words" Denise A. L.

Thanks, all of you, for your kind remarks.


Here are just a few of my well-loved poems and Poets:

Psalm 19 (King David)
Lincoln, Man of the People (Markham)
The Ballad of the Harp Weaver (Millay)
The Raven, The Bells, Annabel Lee (Poe)
The Deacon's Masterpiece (Holmes)
The Destruction of Sennacherib (Byron)
Hiawatha's Childhood (Longfellow)
Hope Is the Thing With Feathers (Dickinson)
Charge of the Light Brigade (Tennyson)
Shall I Compare Thee To a Summer's Day? (Shakespeare Sonnet)
The Road Not Taken (Frost)
Little Orphant Annie (Riley)
O Captain! My Captain! (Whitman)
If (Rudyard Kipling)


"Now go take on the day" (Dr. Laura Schlesenger) - one of my favorite quotes